Getting to Know your International Contacts-Part 3

While reviewing the UNESCO website, the first insight I gained was from thier policy on curriculum.  They mention that providing a universal curriculum for early childhood programs can be hard considering the low amount of training many teachers have and the high rate of varying abilities in the children being served.  They suggest short guidelines on building curriculum to meet the needs of children in various areas.  The guidelines would be easier to follow than a universal set of standards and can be a starting point for untrained teachers.  While I realize that it is a reality to have teachers who have no early childhood training, I feel that this is an extremely important goal for the early childhood field; I also think that a universal curriculum would be hard to establish considering the major differences from one area to another and even from one child to another at such early ages, so a short set of guidelines may be a better alternative.  As a center teacher, and hopefully one day a program director, I would use the guidelines to develop a curriculum that would suit the needs for my center. 

Another insight I gained from the website was on the issue of accessability/inequality.  I learned that many countries are striving to find a way to universalize early childhood education without causing inequalities.  They want all children to have access to early childhood programs, yet they recognize that disadvantaged children would be likely to recieve lower quality programs than those of more advantaged children on account of funding and teacher training.  I am glad to see that it is a goal for many countries to try to ensure a quality early childhood experience for all children, not just privelaged children. 

One last insight I gained was that of investments.  Many countries realize that without proper funding quality education and care for early childhood simply isn't going to happen.  While this is a reality, a lot of governments aren't supporting early childhood programs.  There is little funding for them to provide the type of quality children deserve.  They are now realizing that private sector funding may be the way to overcome this obstacle.  While this may be true, I feel that private funding will cause more inequalities from program to program.  Private organizations are likely going to only provide support for programs that will benefit them the most, thus leaving programs in disadvantaged neighborhoods without funding sources.  This seems like a good short term plan, but ultimately I feel the government needs to step in and provide more support for early chilhdood programs to minimize the inequalities. 

http://www.unesco.org/new/en/education/themes/strengthening-education-systems/early-childhood/investment/

Getting to Know Your International Contacts- Part 2

Unfortunately I never recieved responses from any of the international contacts I tried to make earlier in the course.  I viewed Harvard's Global Children's Initiative website and was very interested in the organization.   I really like how they addressed not only that early childhood is an investment, but they look to it as a moral obligation to serve young children and to ensure thier quality of care and education.   I also really like how they work collaboratively with those from other disciplines to make sure they are meeting thier goals in the most effective and creative ways.  Finally, I really liked that they don't focus solely on one area of development in children.  They look at the whole child, health, cognitive, social, emotional, and physical developments. 

Reference:
Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University. (2010). Global children’s initiative. Retrieved from http://developingchild.harvard.edu/initiatives/global_initiative/

Sharing Web Resources

The website I have been accessing over the past few weeks is http://www.zerotothree.org/ .  This week, I looked for information that was relevant to my current professional position, controversial, dealt with economists or polititicians, and that gave me new insights.  First, the website provided a link to a new resource, a book entitled "Caring for Infants and Toddlers in a Group."  It provided highlights from the book as well as an option to preview some of it.  This was relevant to my current position because I am an infant/toddler teacher in a group setting.  I am always grateful for new information or tips on how to work with this age group, so I was glad to find this link. 

I was unable to find any information that I personally found to be controversial.  While there are mulitple articles and links with regards to public policies, which are always a little controversial, I didn't find any that I would really consider so.  While viewing thier information regarding public policies, however, I was able to find many links that you can use to access your local or the federal government to read about the current events and decisions being made that affect early childhood.  The policy center part of the Zero to Three webpage offers up to date information as well as a policy center network that you can join where they will send you information regarding public policies. 

Finally, the part of the website this week that offered new insights for me was the Baby Brain Map.  The map is an interactive tool that you can use to find out how a baby's brain develops according to age and ways in which you can enrich that development.   I found the tool to be very easy to use and informative.  I think I will offer this tool to my parents as a resource for thier children. 

Getting to Know Your International Contacts—Part 1

I visited the website of the Childhood Poverty Research and Policy Centre’s page (http://www.childhoodpoverty.org/),  and read about issues in Mongolia.  Mainly because I didn't know anything about the goings-on in Mongolia, I was curious what their situation was like.  After reading about it, I have to say I was greatly disheartened.  Mongolia was heavily tied to the USSR but when they opted for the "shock reform" in 1990, things began to go downhill.  Such rapid change that took place hit the economy hard, and unemployment rose and social services were cut.  Health care options for poor families were greatly reduced.  30% of children under 5 years of age showed signs of malnourishment and many children were not attending school.  Migration is a common practice in Mongolia due to the amount of livestock herders.  However, it was reported that most migration began taking place to give children a better education.  However, those who did move to another area for education were 3 times more likely to be out of school than those who had not migrated.  This is due to a number of factors including non-acceptance of students at schools, lack of nearbye schools, or cost of attendance.  Though the situation in Mongolia is beginning to look up, these facts are still an issue.  With such a gap between the rich and the poor, something needs to be done to help the children in this country so that they can overcome these obstacles and perhaps eliminate them in the future. 

Sharing web resources

The website I chose and subscribed to was http://www.zerotothree.org/.  Zero to Three is an excellent resource for any information regarding infants and toddlers.  They provide information for a variety of issues related to early childhood.  They are a non-profit organization whose goal is to simply improve the lives of infants and toddlers through information, trainings, and support of those in the early childhood field.  Though I did not find any current articles related to changing demographics or diversity, Zero to Three has a variety of articles that are updated frequently that address current issues in the field, so I feel that diversity is an issue that they provide information on as it comes up. 

One issue that was addressed in a July edition of Zero to Three's Baby Monitor newsletter was the debt ceiling debate.  Funding is a major issue in early childhood right now and this debate could effect the future of early childhood programs.  It is important that the government continue to support and fund programs for infants and toddlers.  The website offers a wide range of information regarding the debate as well as information on how to advocate for young children. 

Establishing Professional Contacts and Expanding Resources

For part 1 of this blog assignment, I have yet to hear back from either people I emailed.  Therefore, I am going to continue on to the alternative assignment.  For this, I subscribed to World Forum radio podcasts.  I viewed TJ Skalski's podcast, of Canada.  I was interested in the mother nature perspective of her charter school.  I also visited their website, http://www.meccs.org/site/ .  I found their mission to be inspiring.  They foster an atmosphere in which children learn to respect one another and accept everyone's individual attributes.  They honor thier cultural backgrounds while also instilling a mainstream education.

For part 2 of this assignment, I chose Zero to Three.org.  I chose this site because I often visit it already for my position as an Early Head Start teacher.  I have referred to it often for articles, information, etc.  I find it to be very informative and applicable to my needs.  There are many informative websites for early childhood education, but I find Zero to Three to be the easiest to follow.  Their website is designed so that I can quickly find anything I need to.  I was not already signed up for newsletters, but while visiting for this assignment I did sign up to recieve newsletters.  I look forward to getting my first next month.

Resources:
World Forum Foundation
http://worldforumfoundation.org/wf/wp/current-work/world-forum-radio

Mother Earth's Children's Charter School
http://www.meccs.org/site/

Zero To Three
http://www.zerotothree.org/   (May have to use http://www.zerotothree.org/about-us/ )
(Newsletters:
http://zttcfn.pub30.convio.net/child-development/from-baby-to-big-kid/ and
http://capwiz.com/zerotothree/mlm/signup/ )

My Supports

When I think about the people in my life that I consider to be my support system, a few come to mind automatically.  First of all, my husband.  He is my daily support giver.  He gets to listen to me vent, or anything I need to talk about from my day he is there to listen and to offer advice, opinions, or support.  Secondly I think of my best friend.  Though we don't talk as regularly as we used to since having children, I still know that I could pick up the phone and call her whenever I needed to and she would be there for me.  Finally, I have my family and coworkers.  My family is there for me whenever I need them, though they're not necessarily the first ones I call on.  But it is good to have them.  My coworkers are there for my job related issues, to offer advice and support.  As far as my emotional needs go, my husband is by far my number one supporter.  It is not always the support I think I want, but later see that it is what I needed.  For instance, if I am crying because I broke my pencil (I am pregnant, this happens lol), he is there to tell me, as nice as he can, that I am being rediculous.  He is also the one I rely on most for my practical needs.  He brings home more money than me and helps me with things around the house when I need him to.  Without him, I would feel very alone and as if I didn't have anyone to truly rely on for anything. 

Because he is such a huge support system for me, I chose to imagine my life without my husband.  If we were to divorce what would I need from people.  First of all, I have a job so my practical needs would still get met, just a little more difficultly.  It would be possible that, with two children, I would need some financial support.  I could turn to Jobs and Family Services for help with food (WIC), and could see if I qualified for our state's food assistance program.  This would help with cost of food, which would give me more money to put toward bills.  I could find an income based apartment as well to cut down on rent.  All of these supports are provided from the state.  As for emotional support, I think I would rely heavily on my best friend and my family.  I would need them to help me get through the divorce and to listen/offer advice, etc.  If these supports weren't there for me, I don't think I could make it through a divorce and providing for myself and two children alone.  It is important that everyone have a support system, no matter what type, because I don't think anyone can make it through life alone.